Getting access to more water doubles the rate

Retail water rates for residents around The Resort at Tapatio Springs will double when long-awaited water from Canyon Lake finally begins flowing to sinks and sprinklers there in November.

Some Kendall West Utility customers initially had sticker shock over the hike proposed to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, but now they say it's justified to end perennial water supply shortages in the neighborhoods just south of Boerne.

“They don't like it, but people understand that it's necessary and we have to do it,” said Matkin.

The utility's 900 customers have been paying the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority since 2002 to reserve 750 acre-feet of water annually from Canyon Lake, despite being unable to take it, since no pipe has been laid to the GBRA delivery point off Interstate 10 near Cascade Caverns Road.

Although there's still no firm date on laying pipe, delivery of the GBRA water should begin soon thanks to a deal struck between Matkin and the city of Boerne.

The city will charge the utility a fee of $1.71 per 1,000 gallons to “wheel” the GBRA water through city pipes to a tie-in with Kendall West Utility lines. Taking the GBRA water will add 92 cents per 1,000 gallons to the reservation price of $2.10 per 1,000 gallons, Matkin said.

A monthly water bill that is now $76.11 for 10,000 gallons will rise to $154.52 when the GBRA water comes into use.